The sound of wheels rattling over jagged concrete echoes throughout the streets of Tunis. Helmet-clad adventurers veer around corners and hurtle down sloping hills alongside cars, bikes, and pedestrians. A mode of transport above all else, skateboards have become a common sight in the capital city.
In La Marsa, a coastal city inside the Tunis Governorate, these trailblazers have found a new place to practise their tricks. A skatepark, designed by Tunisian skate collective Giraffe Crew in collaboration with East by West, Decathlon Tunisia, and Make Life Skate Life, was opened in February 2024.
The spot is perched along the corniche, overlooking the steadfast Mediterranean and nearby basketball courts. Skaters practise there throughout the day, gliding along the smooth concrete slopes and soaring into the air as they perfect their various tricks.
Skateboarding has not always been a common sight in Tunis, however. Ghazi Jebali, a member of Giraffe Crew, tells The New Arab that these changes have happened relatively recently.
“When I was younger, the scene was a lot smaller,” Ghazi explains. “We have worked hard to build the community you see today.”
The revolution and the rise of skating
Ahmed Krichene, another member of the Giraffe Crew, tells a similar story to Ghazi.
“I started skating a few years before the 2011 Revolution, when I was around 13 years old,” Ahmed recounts. “There was a skatepark in the same spot in La Marsa, but only around 30 people would regularly skate there.”
For Ahmed, the community was one of the main attractions of skateboarding.
“I met a lot of my closest friends there, all people from different backgrounds and ages. One day I would skate with someone who was a teenager like me, and the next with a father or a local dentist,” Ahmed recalls. “We got into a real groove of practising and progressing together.”
During this period, skating was still relatively misunderstood within Tunisian society.
“A lot of people did not know what skateboarding was,” Ahmed explains. “My parents and family thought it was dangerous. There was a sense that it was something unknown, especially when compared to more conventional sports.”
Opinions started to change after the Arab Spring, however. A Middle East-based group of skaters called the Bedouins visited the country in October 2011. The non-profit organisation, consisting of around 20 members, was founded in order to unite residents in conflict zones through skateboarding and art.
As part of their project in Tunisia, the Bedouins toured the country providing free skateboarding workshops. Soon, the group discovered Imed Trabelsi’s abandoned mansion. Once home to the former construction minister and nephew of toppled President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s wife, the mansion was transformed into a makeshift skatepark and art exhibition space.
“The space became a symbol of the revolution,” Ahmed recalls. “Many people visited just to see what was happening. It really helped shift perspectives towards skating and also encouraged many people to give it a try themselves.”
Barriers to skating
Despite the Bedouins raising the profile of the sport, the growing community still faced significant challenges. One of the main issues was finding the equipment and safe spaces to practise.
Bilel Ben Romdhan, 30, started skating after seeing people gliding around the city and watching videos online.
“One day, I met a guy my age who had a board, so I was finally able to try it,” Bilel explains. “I shared the skate with my friend until I was in my early twenties. When I finally got one, it was a hand-me-down gift from someone who used to skate.”
Ahmed tells a similar story, explaining that the cost of boards and their lack of availability in Tunisia made them particularly hard to source.
“Whoever had the opportunity to travel would buy a board or two for the community,” Ahmed says. “We would focus on practising the least dangerous moves to make sure we did not damage or break the boards.”
Another challenge facing the community was accessing safe spaces to practise.
“The old skatepark in Marsa was really dangerous,” Bilel recalls. “It was made from wood, a lot of which was broken or rotten. People would also gather there to do drugs and drink, so it did not have a great reputation.”
As a result, people would often practise in abandoned buildings or on the streets.
Cenda Pigné, a 25-year-old skater from Tunis, shares their experience.
“When I started skating in 2021, I stuck to a style called down-hilling, which basically focuses on gliding down sloping roads,” Cenda says. “It was not until the new skatepark opened in La Marsa that I began to learn tricks.”
Accessible spaces
The opening of the skatepark marked a monumental turning point for the community.
Ghazi and his skate group, Giraffe Crew, were among the main instigators behind its construction. The skater personally reached out to the non-profit Make Life Skate Life in order to pursue the project.
“After we had the organisation on board, I spoke to the municipality so they would give us the space and allow us to build there. Then I reached out to the other partners, like Decathlon Tunisia, to help give us the funding,” Ghazi recalls.
Construction started in 2023, with volunteers coming from across the world to help build the park.
“People travelled from Holland, Valencia, Lisbon, Belgium…” Ghazi trails off. “For the opening in February 2024, we hired DJs to host a fun event and pro-skaters flew in to practise at the spot.”
Make Life Skate Life have also opened a skatepark in Sousse, a city in the central-east of the country along the Gulf of Hammamet. Both spots have become cultural hubs in their respective cities, with strong skating communities building around the parks.
Cenda compares the environment in Tunisia to other places abroad.
“I have visited skateparks in France and Spain that have been very tense and competitive,” Cenda explains. “The atmosphere in the Marsa skatepark is completely different. Everyone is cheering you on and sharing tips on how to do specific tricks.”
The skatepark has also helped shift perceptions towards the sport in the city.
“People in Tunis often feared skating because it was unknown and you did not see it everywhere,” Ahmed says. “The opening of a safe, accessible park has helped normalise the sport and encourage others to give it a go.”
During the weekends, the park in La Marsa now fills up with groups of children donning heavy protective wear.
“A big reason behind building the park was to create a safe space for people to practise – especially kids,” Ghazi explains.
The skater now holds free classes for the children on the weekend, teaching them tricks and helping them perfect their skills. Giraffe Crew also regularly hosts competitions at the spot, offering free skates and equipment for the winners.
“We introduced these initiatives to make sure the space is as accessible as possible,” Ghazi shares.
As Ghazi puts it, the classes have been highly effective, with the young skaters even going on to form their own crew, called Bumpers.
“It has been a real joy to encourage and help another generation of skaters in Tunis.”
Amelia Dhuga is a writer who, after spending much of her life under perpetual grey skies in the east of England, started plotting her grand escape. Now she spends her time chasing the sun around Europe and the Middle East
Follow her on Instagram: @ameliadhuga
